Radius-rod support



April 1, 1924. I 1,488,535

- L. FORDE RADIUS ROD SUPPORT Filed June 22. 1923 Patented Apr. 1, 1924.

"STATES T HT i It" LESTER L. roann, or scorn :e'os'ron, vrnc rnxunl RADIUS-ROD SUPFORT.

Application filed-Tune 22, 1923. Serial No. 647,080. 2

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LESTER L. F ORDE, a

i citizen of the United States, residing at Rod Supports; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, forming part of this specification.

This invention relates to means for securing in'place the radius rods on the front end of an automobile and has for its object the, provision of means for exerting a constant tension on the nut on the bolt which.

supports the radius rod and usually the spring perch.

A. further object of the present invention is theprovision of means for holdingthe radius, rods tight against the axle and preventing the radius rods from dropping down into engagement with the ground with consequent serious damage to the automobile, and possibly to the passengers.

The invention will be described in connection with a Ford car as that is the principalfield of usefulness of the present device. In the earlier model Ford cars the radius rods were each secured above the front axle but a few years ago Mr. Ford altered the position of the radius rods, probably due to the great number of rods which broke at the knuckle, and redesigned the rods so that they should be fastened under forms the front axle upon the bolt of the spring perch and in recent models a castle nut holds the radius rods on the spring perch bolt.

So far it seems practically impossible to keep the radius rods tight which is objectionable not only because of the rattle caused by the slight play, but because of the great danger of these rods dropping down, engaging the ground and thereby causing serious injury to the car.

I overcome all the difficulties incident to the use of underhung radius rods by eliminating the cotter pin of the castellated nut and by substituting therefor a grease-encased spring tension device which not only entirely eliminates the objectionable rattling but overcomes all danger of the rods disengaging themselves from the spring,

perch bolt.

In the drawings,

automobile front axle and associated parts embodying the. present invention.

Fig. 2is a front elevation, partly in sec-' ti'on, of a. portion .of'a front axle.

Fig. '3'is a top plan view of the spring and holder. Y. N.

The numeral l0denotes the front axle of the present style Ford car being of general I-beam construction carrying atthetwo ends the yokes for the steering-mechanism of the front '.wheels and being swelledby hollow cylinders 11- which receive the bolts 12.of the perches 14 which support the front spring 15. Each .bolt '12 passes entirely through thefront axle and-supports the head 16 of one of the radius rods 17 which is secured against the front axle by'means of a castle nut 19 usually held'in' place by a wire or, a cotter pin. iWith this construction there would seem to be little danger of the radius rod becoming detached from the front axle but unfortunately the'fact remains that they do and hence I provide a spring tension device to hold the castle nut against the radius rod at all times with a yielding tension.

The spring 20 is here shown as a round wire spring coiled in helical shape with one end such as 22 anchored to the holder 23 and with its upper free end bent radially with respect to the helix to form a stud 2a to engage one of the slots in the castellated nut 19. The spring 20 is enclosed in a cylindrical receptacle 26 preferably of a section of brass or steel tubing closed at the bottom by the spring holder 23 which at inner end is curved or rounded as at 27 to fit the radius rods 17. g

In the device as illustrated there is a small slot 28 in the bottom of the cylinder 26 and the anchoring of the spring is accomplished by passing the end 22 of the spring through this opening but if desired the cylinder 26' engage a slot of the castle nut while the rounded end 27 of the spring holder. 23 is 1 one hundred and eighty or more degrees from the position shown in Fig. 1. V The end of the holder is now turned about the axis of the spring perch bolt 12 as; a

pivot which has the effect of winding up or tightening the spring 20. The end 27 when brought to the position shown in Fig. 1 is clamped in such position by means of one or more clamps 30 of any preferred type here shown asthe well-known and everywhere available garden hose clamps which serve admirably for the purpose intended.

Although.notlessential I findit highly adv vantageous toifill the receptacle 26with a fairly heavy grease'and to provide a felt packing 32 at the top of the cylinder 26 to prevent loss of. such grease. Due to the constant and relatively strong 'tension exertedon the castle nut v1'9 by the relatively. poweriul spring 20 the nut 19 can vnever become sufii'ciently loose topermit rattling. and by virtue ofthe property of thelgrease the nut 19 may be removed at any time with the greatest of ease after unclamping the end 27 and removing the spring and holder.

What I claim is: I

1. A spring tension device for holding in place acastellated radius rod securing nut including a holder adapted to be clamped to the radius rod, a spring anchored to said holder and engageable with one of the slots of said nut and an openended receptacle enclosing said spring.

2. In combination, a holder having a longitudinally grooved end, means for clamping said end to a radius rod, a cylinder secured to said holder, a helical spring within said cylinder and anchored to said holder and an inwardly directed radially extended end on aid spring.

3. In an automobile,the combination with a front axle, a spring perch bolt, a castellated nut on-said bolt, and a radius rod engaging said bolt'and axle and held by said nut, of a cylinder surrounding thelower end ofsaid bolt, a spring within said'cylinder' detachably engaging one of the slots in said nut,'a holder closing the lower end of said 7 cylinder and having a channel shaped end engaging said radius rod, and a clamp for ecuring said channel end to said radius rod;

4:. A radius rod support comprising a spring detachably engaging a radius rod 1 supporting nut, a lever secured to said spring and adapted to wind said-spring when it is engaged with said nut, and means for securing said lever in such position. i LESTER L. 'FORDE. 

